Civilian areas come under fire in Vanni district
(Photo source: church workers in Sri Lanka)
As the final push for complete control by the Sri Lanka government is expected today, reports have emerged from the last traumatic weekend.
These updates come from medical workers via church sources in Jaffna. Though in broken English, they clearly convey the drama and desperation of the situation in the northern Vanni district.
8 May 2009
Mullivaikkal hospital is functioning with great difficulties.
Today many civilians were hit by shells.
Today ICRC ship tries to come to sea side from deep sea.
Due to continuous shelling, ship was unable to reach the sea side. More than 500 injured civilians need to be transfer to further treatment.
Food shortage
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More photos on FlickrMany civilians are waiting to get kanchy [rice] at several places. Many did not eat rice more than one week.
Patients were brought to hospital with fainting attacks due to prolonged fasting. Mothers are crying at hospital and asking for milk powders.
Feeding mothers did not have meals and they are unable to feed their child well. Many of them are asking for milk powder but we do not have stock.
April first week the last food ship arrived and after that no food ship arrived to this area except small quantity of foods were brought by ICRC ship.
Many children are coming to the hospital with jaundice - Hepatitis Outbreak.
Deaths are happening among infants due to severe respiratory tract infection.
Thousands of elderly people are very severely malnourished and they are only surviving with kanchchi.
Patients being brought to the hospital on 8 May in a flat bed truck
(Photo source as above)
9 May 2009
Elderly are under risk.
Many elderly are suffering from diseases, food shortage and war. Even [with the] ICRC evacuation, still wounded and diseased patients are at ward.
Many places people are waiting to get food.
Food distribution is going on more than 10 places.
Safety is still problem at NFZ [no-fire zone].
ICRC ship arrived with 30 MT [metric tonnes] foods and more than 450 injured civilians and their relations were sent to Pulmoddai.
No fire zone was free from fighting up to [arrival of] ICRC ship.
Then fighting started in the Mullivaikkal West area.
More than 50 wounded civilians admitted to ward before 7pm but heavy shelling is going on.
So many wounded people will come.
10 May 2009
Reported Directly from the War area
Congested civilian area was under heavy shell attack.
Many houses and vehicles burned following shell attacks.
After last night’s heavy attacks people are displacing towards less attacked area.
Due to huge number of injured civilians brought to hospital, the hospital is unable to give the services to all patients. Many wounded civilians are without treatment for more than 24 hours.
More than 50 per cent of health staff have not reported for duty because their residence [is] under attack.
Terrible attacks started since last evening.
Many civilians in temporary tarpaulin houses were shell attacked.
Many hundred civilians were wounded and many hundred civilians died.
People are displacing from attack place to attack-free place.
Hospital is full of patients and many injured civilians are without treatment for more than 24 hours.
Day time was free and again heavy fighting started at around 6pm.
11 May 2009
A father waits to get help for a child at the overwhelmed hospital
(Photo: © CMS)
Repeated call to save the innocent civilians’ life in the Vanni area failed and more than two thousand five hundred were killed from Saturday (9-05-2009) till Monday morning 11-05-2009). Only a limited number of bodies were brought to the makeshift hospital and all other bodies were scatted on ground and buried in the bunkers.
Many civilians were killed while they were in bunkers, and could not find them.
Innocent civilians were killed thousands and thousands, but we are only counting the number of dead bodies and injured people and unable to stop these killings.
Still the people inside amounts to more than 150,000 moving again within the Govt.-announced safety areas. But the civilians were killed in the safety areas. They do not have any passage to come out of the war area, they only get rice kanchy for a day. During the heavy fighting and shelling they do not even have this rice kanchy. The hardship and suffering of these people cannot be expressed in words.
The people came out from Vanni are still kept under high security of the SF. One hundred and eighty seven thousand and eight hundred and forty civilians (187,840) came out from Vanni war area. There are many families who have relatives and their own houses outside Vanni and they are not allowed to go to their homes or to stay with relatives. There is no point of keeping these families in the camps, if the Sri Lankan Govt. has intention of resettling them, they should be allowed to live in their own houses or with relatives living outside Vanni. The Madhu area came under control of the Sri Lankan Govt. almost an year ago, why the people of that area could not allowed to be settled in their areas if the govt. has intention for the safety and re-settling the Tamil families in their home land.
(Note: According to the SL Govt. Statistics in November 2008 the population of Kilinochchi District was 219,878 and Mullaitivu District 259,293 (ref:Thinakural Sunday 1 March 2009) totalling 479,171 people in the Vanni district.)
As the Church of Ceylon plans its long-term contribution to healing the wounds of a brutally divided country, CMS wants to be an active partner. We are grateful for any donations which will go to supporting the church’s response in the aftermath of the war.